Eleanor Sobel running for mayor of Hollywood

Broward Sen. Eleanor Sobel announced Friday she will run for mayor of Hollywood, confirming speculation that began shortly after Mayor Peter Bober announced he would not seek re-election.

Sobel said in September she was “forestalling any decision until after the Legislative Session is completed in March” of next year, but has had a change of heart.

The Democratic lawmaker, a longtime local elected official before coming to Tallahassee to serve in the House in 1998, said in a statement she just couldn’t stay away from home.

“My commitment to the people of Hollywood and my passion for serving them has only grown since I first began serving in public office. This is a great city – one of the best in America – and I want to be a leading part of Hollywood’s next great chapter,” said Sobel in a prepared statement Friday.

“Hollywood needs a fighter, someone who cares passionately about our future and has the experience to make a difference for the people who call this city home … I believe I am that person,” she said.

Sobel has been on the local school board and Hollywood City Commission. She is slated to term out of her Senate seat next year.

Sobel is known in Tallahassee as a liberal yet pragmatic lawmaker in the statehouse. Despite a ironclad Republican majority in the Senate, Sobel chairs the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs, a rare distinction.

“I have been receiving a number of inquiries about this seat,” Sobel said in September, responding to media questions about her interest.

“Given my love for Hollywood, my years of service to this community and the fact that I am term-limited from the state Senate, I certainly understand the inquiries,” Sobel said.

Local polling in Broward say Sobel among the most popular politicians in Hollywood, according to Broward Beat‘s Buddy Nevins.

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Ryan Ray covers politics and public policy in North Florida and across the state. He has also worked as a legislative researcher and political campaign staffer. He can be reached at ryan@floridapolitics.com.

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